A Shinobi's Reaper
by AkemiTheSunbro
Summary: The past... doesn't always remain in the past. When a remnant from a lifetime ago brings tragedy to the Legendary Shinobi Hanzo, he must prepare the girls of Hanzo Shinobi Academy to protect themselves, lest they be swept away by the raven's talons. To do so, Hanzo enlists aid from friends and colleagues from his past to preserve his legacy of the future.


Asuka leaped backwards into the bleachers of the gymnasium, narrowly dodging a hurricane of kicks from Katsuragi, the most fiery, offensive member of the opposing sparring team. The latter grimaced and grasped her side as she landed. The tear in the sides of her sweater and cuts in her ribs told her very clearly that she hadn't escaped the barrage unscathed. Her upperclassman was no joke, and it didn't seem like she was even trying. However, her own fighting spirit could not be wavered. She shot a short glanced to the stage where her grandfather, Hanzo, watched and nodded in approval. Or was it perversion? She could never tell with him.

Regardless as to why Hanzo seemed lost in euphoria, Asuka could also see pride in his expression as the girls of Hanzo Shinobi Academy displayed their skills. It was a secondary expression, to be sure, but it was still there.

"A well-timed dodged, Asuka!" Hanzo called out, "But it clearly wasn't perfect. Remember what I've always told you!"

"Right!" She nodded then mumbled to herself, "Flow, like water…"

And that was why Asuka would happily give it her all, even if this was just a sparring match. It wasn't every day that Hanzo, the Great Legendary Shinobi, sat in and watched them practice, despite him being her Grandfather. Even at that, he seemed to be pleased; Asuka hoped it was the expertise they showed in their fighting rather than the more obvious alternative.

She turned to the right and shouted to her teammate who joined her in the bleachers, "Hibari! The New Shinobi technique! I need healing!"

"Okay!" The innocent pink-pigtailed shinobi nodded with a smile and pulled out a scroll from the chest of her equally pink track jacket, " _Secret Ninja Art! ~ Ninto's Kiss!"_

In a puff of smoke, Hibari's favorite stuffed bunny hopped onto her shoulder, then shot like lightning to Asuka's. It gave the shinobi a quick smooch on the cheek and disappeared. After doing so, Asuka felt the cuts in her sides stitch themselves together and the pain melt away. With a smirk, fixed her fighting posture and nodded her teammate, "Thank ya, Hibari!"

Readying her own stance to restart the brawl, the healer grinned happily, "It's my pleasure!"

"Did you just heal?! Katsuragi's shoulders slumped as she complained in the center of the gymnasium's court. She glared at Yagyuu, officiating the battle as she leaned against the wall, "That's gotta be cheating! I didn't know about any new technique!"

"That sounds like a 'you' problem," the eyepatch albino girl shrugged, "It's not a Forbidden Technique, so I see no reason as to why Hibari can't use a fighting skill to fight. The fact that you didn't know about just means she was able to outwit and get the drop on you."

"Gwahahahhh!~," Hanzo guffawed from the stage, "Well Katsuragi, that's our Hibari and Yagyuu for you! Expect nothing less!"

Speechless, the blond gawked at both Yagyuu and Hanzo, before turning to her black-haired teammate and continuing her complaints, "Ikarugaaa! Are you hearing this? Yagyuu's gotta be playing favorites here! Tell me that this isn't fair!"

The other third-year shinobi in question dropped in from her position in the ceiling beams and shrugged as they stared at the two girls who currently had both the literal and metaphorical high ground, "I'm sorry Katsu, but I must side with the others on this one. It may seem unfair, but I myself watched Hibari train with great effort to learn that Secret Ninja Art," she smiled, "In fact, for who she is and what she wants to achieve, I'm quite proud of her. I'll let it pass."

"AGHHHH! Fine…" Katsuragi moaned. Turning back to their opponents, she smirked and smacked her fists together with new resolve, "We'll just have to pummel them into a jiggly, bodacious pile of broken beauty even more quickly and savagel-"

" _ULTIMATE SECRET NINJA ART!_ " Asuka acreamed and cut off the blonde's fantasies, " _DEEP SHADOW!"_

The two in the gym's center froze and stared at the long-haired shinobi emerging from the newly exploded pillar of green light shining from the bleachers. They gasped.

"…Oh no," Ikaruga's grip on her blade faltered.

"THIS is bad…" Katsuragi gulped as she stepped back.

They felt a breeze whisk across their faces, and, to their horror, Asuka disappeared from the high ground. Katuragi and Ikaruga braced themselves for a world of hurt to fall upon them at any moment.

"ENOUGH!" Hanzo shouted with the forcefulness of a dragon.

The surprise of his severity caused Asuka to appear out of hiding—coincidentally less than a foot away from the opposing shinobi duo. None of the girls had ever heard him command such ferocity. Greatly frightened, they turned to him slowly, wondering what caused such intensity.

He was standing stalwartly, his face now void of any joyous or jovial expression. The girls didn't realize during the sparring match, but an older woman—probably not much older then he—with a yellow sweater, white hair tied up in a ponytail and deep blue eyes now stood beside Hanzo with an equally grim face.

"Training is over for today, all of you," Hanzo stated severely, "Go home."

With Yagyuu and Hibari joining the three, the girls stared at him with a shocked expression. Hesitation hung in the air as confusion tied the shinobi's tongue. Asuka stuttered anxiously, "W-Was I not…" she gulped and looked fearfully at her friends, "…D-Did I g-go too far?"

The two could only shrug and speculate.

* * *

Sitting on his knees onstage, Hanzo smiled absently as he watched over the training shinobi, almost as if he were in a trance. He chortled pervertedly, "Hehehe! It does this old heart of mine good to step into the dojo with my young students! So soft… So jiggly… So…"

" _ULTIMATE SECRET NINJA ART! DEEP SHADOW!"_

His granddaughter's shout broke him from his perverted thoughts. He stroked his greying goatee proudly as he finally started paying attention to the fight. He mumbled with a grin, "That's my Asuka. Never going easy, even though it's just a sparring match."

"I see. The blood of a Shimada clearly flows through her veins," a woman's voice with a clear swiss accent spoke next to the old Shinobi.

Hanzo gasped. This voice…

He hadn't heard this voice in many, many years. Yet, he recognized it immediately, though he couldn't bring himself to believe what his ears were hearing. Stunned, he slowly turned his head to the right where the voice originated. His ears were not the only thing that he couldn't believe; for a moment, he thought his eyes were deceiving him as well. Before him, the lithe, pale woman in a yellow sweater and white ponytail, barely younger then he, stood stoically, intently watching the students spar with piercing cerulean eyes.

"No... My old eyes must be dimming..." The man could hardly pull the words from his throat as he slowly rose to his feet, never prying his eyes away from the woman, "…Angela?"

A faint smile curled the corner of the woman's mouth upward slightly as she warmly chuckled quietly, "…It's been a very long time, Hanzo."

It WAS her. Dr. Angela Ziegler, a remnant of his past he long wished to forget, now stood in his dojo, carefully watching over his precious present-day treasures with keen, tired eyes.

"It has," he answered absently. He took wary stance. He knew within himself that the Angel of Mercy would not come to him of all people merely on a whim. He cautiously spoke, "…Over the course of all these years, why now do you come to this place?"

She ignored the question, "These are your students, correct?"

"They are," his tense body relaxed slightly as he glanced back out to the sparring shinobi girls, "My Granddaughter, Asuka, and her friends… They are now what I treasure most in this life," he resumed his cautious posture and glared back at the doctor, "So, for their sake, Dr. Ziegler, I demand you tell me the meaning for this 'visit'."

"So much life... So much ambition..." Angela again metaphorically sidestepped the Shimada, watching the two student shinobi guarding themselves from an invisible, on-coming attack, "I only need to see them fighting like this to see your spirit in them. I... am happy for you."

She then frowned and refused to make eye contact as she remained silent.

The man sharply snapped, "Angela. Why have you come?"

"The eyes of the dragon," She conceded with a hollow chuckle, "I never could hide anything from them, no matter how hard I tried."

She gulped and took in a deep breath, her anxiety now showing clearly. She turned to Hanzo with a dark, grim expression and stared at him directly in the eyes, hesitating before speaking.

It was then that the Legendary Shinobi had noticed that the years had taken their toll on the old medic. Anxious wrinkles and worry lines marred the face of the once angelic Dr. Ziegler.

She finally spoke, worry evident in her voice, "He's found us, Hanzo. And he intends to finally kill us after all these years."

He furrowed his brow, "…What kind of game of pronouns do you insist on playing with me, woman? Who 'intends to finally kill'—" he stopped and his eyes widened as he understood. With jaw agape, he muttered, "You can't mean…!"

Angela nodded slowly, "The Reaper has returned."

Scowling intensely, Hanzo crossed his arms and stubbornly challenged, "…I cannot believe you. I refuse!"

"Hanzo, I…" the doctor took another heavy breath, "I sensed his soul. I know that he is somewhere within the city. Of all the souls that I feel, his unique void of darkness is unmistakable. There are no doubts. Reaper is here, and we don't have much time."

"How…" Hanzo's stubbornness waned, "How can you tell…?

"Hanzo, please, you must listen to me," Angela looked to be on the verge of tears, nearly breaking into a sob, "He… He killed Genji…"

"N-No…" He gasped in disbelief as a deep despair immediately washed over his entire being. He grabbed at the heart of his grey kimono and staggered back a step, "No, that can't be…! My brother is not…!

She looked away, unable to meet the shinobi's sudden sorrowful gaze. She choked, unable to keep her own emotions in check, "They... brought him to me at the Oasis Research Facility in Afganistan. His soul was missing... And his wounds were clearly that of the Reaper's. I wish it were not true, but when I landed in Japan to tell you, my fears were realized."

"My brother…" Hanzo stared at her speechlessly as he fell to his knees. He muttered, "G-Genji…"

"...He is being flown to the Shambali Temple in Nepal for the funeral as we speak," Angela cleared her throat and gazed back out to the gymnasium and the sparring shinobi students, "…The Reaper may see them as a threat. If that happens, they won't stand a chance. We need to find a safe place for your Grandaughter and her friends. But first," she glanced back at him, "Mourn for your brother. He's... not coming back this time."

Hanzo took a deep breath, and nodded, "I… understand."

He stood up and faced the gymnasium. He shouted to the training shinobi students with a fury that he hadn't felt in decades, "ENOUGH!"

All the girls gasped and froze, with Asuka reappearing from her shadows less then a foot away from the defending Katsuragi and Ikaruga. They all turned and stared at him fearfully.

Hanzo ordered severely, "Training is over for today, all of you. Go home."

For the first time in decades, feelings of defeat and hopelessness overwhelmed Hanzo Shimada once again. He turned and walked passed Angela towards the exit of the gym. He paused and spoke to her emptily, "...The sun is waning, and this news is heavy for the both of us. You are welcome to stay in our home for the time being."

She paused before responding, sorrow still evident in her tone, "...Thank you, Hanzo."


End file.
